Sunday, June 29, 2014

From ‘Vedanta: Swami Chinmayananda. His words his legacy’ by Chinmaya Publications

The term dharma is
one of the most difficult terms in Hindu philosophy. It is derived from the
root dhar (dhr), which means to uphold, sustain, support. Dharma denotes “that
which holds together the different aspects and qualities of an object into a
whole.” …….. “that which makes a thing or being what it is.” For example, it is
the dharma of the fire to burn, of the sun to shine, and so on. ….Dharma means,
therefore, not merely righteousness or goodness, but it indicates the essential
nature of anything

A traditional wisdom story ….

Some drunken men got into a boat one moonlight night and
started rowing. They rowed the entire night. Early in the morning, now sober,
they found that they had not moved an inch. What was wrong they asked? They had
forgotten to raise the anchor. Just as the anchored boat could not move, the
mind that is attached to worldly things cannot move into the deeper depth of
itself.